Sub Rosa the Magic Esdragon

It’s not every day that a flavored vodka comes around that makes me want to write about it. Check that, there is never a day that a flavored vodka comes around that makes me want to write about it.

My issue with flavored vodkas is in itself quite simple: they are simple. Most flavored vodkas out on the market today are synthetic shells of the flavor that they are trying to reproduce, only hitting one flavor note, and usually an artificial one at that.

Before you start storming my bar with flaming torches and pitchforks, I know that there are exceptions to the rule. Hangar One is the first exception that comes to mind, but my reasoning is: why use a raspberry vodka when you can use vodka and raspberries? Why have citrus vodka when you have lemon juice (or better yet, citrus tincture) and vodka? For that matter, why not use gin, as the resulting concoction will be more complex and no one will be the wiser?

Now I’m sure your reaction so far must be: “Jamie, you hate flavored vodkas, we get it”. Well my gentle readers, today is not about hate, but rather love (or at least like).

A little while ago I was given two samples of vodka. Flavored vodka to be exact. One bottle said “Tarragon” and the other, “Saffron”. Pleased that I’d just received some swag, but a little miffed that it was vodka (why doesn’t anybody ever send me whiskey?), I cracked open the bottles and took a sip, expecting the usual, mono-dimensional characteristics of a flavored vodka.

But lo, what was this? The Tarragon was complex, with hints of fennel and mint, reminding me of a simple, non-bitter absinthe. The Saffron, hit me in the face with Indian food as soon as I took a whiff. Cumin??! Coriander!? Saffron! Why are these spirits offering up so much? They’re supposed to be vodkas, dammit!

Since the bottles say that they are vodka, I guess I’ve got to believe it, but I’d want to give these spirits a different classification altogether, as they are that unique.

And where do these goodies come from you ask? Well, they come from Oregon (is anyone in Oregon not distilling right now?), under the house name of Sub Rosa. Founded by Mike Sherwood, late of Rogue Spirits, Sub Rosa currently is making just the two flavors, but I hope more are in the works. Given the way the Tarragon tasted, I’d say that he’d be nuts not to try his hand in absinthe. (A side note: did you know that wormwood and tarragon are related? Well you do now.)

Why are you yelling Kev?😉
I have seen many references for both estragon and esdragon as the French word (root?) for tarragon. I have also seen it mentioned that esdragon is Scandanavic.
I am not a linguist (or etymologist), so I can only assume that those multiple sources are correct.

Kev… What I was thinking was, that Absinthe can have little to no thujone depending on the wormwood used and some of the manufacturing or distillation variables. However, if they are producing Sub Rosa by simply macerating the Tarragon in the vodka, it might very well have at least an equivalent amount of thujone to Absinthe. If the Sub Rosa vodkas are produced using distillation, then they likely will have even less thujone than Absinthe, that is to say practically none.

Not that thujone content really matters in Absinthe or flavored vodka. Just seemed like a funny idea.

Sub Rosa Tarragon vodka is created via an infusion process, not a distillation per se. The infusion does not go through the still again. Several herbs are infused separately with different strength alcohol bases, and then blended into the final product. The original alcohol used was Dolmen Distillery’s ‘Worker Bee’ distilled mead, but that was not available in sufficient quantity, so vodka it was and it turned out quite nicely.

Hi Erik. I am negotiating with a distributor out of Northern California so yes, I plan on going into California as soon as I can. But will stay here on the West Coast until we gauge the demand. I produce about 50 cases of each flavor at a time. Each run is batch numbered. Gotta start small and grow slowly. Hope to get you Sub Rosa vodkas in California after the first of the year.

[…] Jamie Boudreau of Vessel in Seattle liked ‘em both: The Saffron, hit me in the face with Indian food as soon as I took a whiff. Cumin??! Coriander!? Saffron! Why are these spirits offering up so much? They’re supposed to be vodkas, dammit! […]